The Atlantic Ups Matt Thompson to Cross-Platform Executive Editor and Adrienne LaFrance to Site Editor

J.J. Gould leaves the publication

The Atlantic makes some changes to its editorial leadership ranks, promoting Matt Thompson to cross-platform executive editor, a new role, and Adrienne LaFrance to editor of TheAtlantic.com, replacing J.J. Gould, who left the publication Friday.

LaFrance had been a staff writer focusing on tech, politics and media. Prior to joining The Atlantic in 2014, she had reporting roles at Digital First Media, Nieman Journalism Lab and the Honolulu Civil Beat, where she was was the first Capitol Hill reporter for the publication.

Thompson had been deputy editor of TheAtlantic.com since 2015, joining from NPR, where he had been director of vertical initiatives at the time of his departure. While at NPR he also founded the Code Switch blog, which now has its own podcast.

In his new role, Thompson will add cross-platform collaborations to his current role overseeing mid and long-range projects at The Atlantic. Thompson will be drawing on and coordinating the work of different departments on new initiatives.

He’ll also be responsible for audio, and a soon to debut podcast, Radio Atlantic, which Thompson will co-host with editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg and contributing editor Alex Wagner, provides a glimpse of the type of work Thompson will be doing. The podcast is a multi-department effort, from the digital scaffolding provided by the product team to the contributions of the editorial team in providing guests and the basis for discussion. The work of events arm AtlanticLIVE will kick in later, for live podcast events.

“To my delight, The Atlantic is growing at a rapid pace, and we need editorial leaders capable of grappling with the challenges and opportunities of this moment,” said Goldberg in a statement. “Matt and Adrienne are two such leaders. They bring great knowledge and skill, great judgment, and a great love of The Atlantic, to their new roles.”